#Fed #inflation #Powell #Congress #stocks
The S&P 500 increased 0.1% Wednesday in a defensive session led by the counter-cyclical stocks. The DJIA (+0.1%) also marked a positive finish, while the NAS Comp (-0.2%) closed a bit lower. The Russell 2000 dropped 1.6%.
The DJIA rallied off lows after Fed Chairman Powell spoke out on inflation to Congress Wednesday.
Chairman Powell told Congress that it is still too early to raise interest rates due to inflation.
“You wouldn’t react to something that is likely to go away,” he said.
Chairman Powell conceded to the House Financial Services Committee that inflation has been “higher than we’ve expected and a little bit more persistent than we had expected and hoped.“
But, he claimed virus-related supply constraints led to the “perfect storm of high demand and low supply.” Powell thinks the inflationary effects “should partially reverse as the effects of the bottlenecks unwind.”
The benchmark 10-yr T-Note yield retreated and was sitting at 1.354%.
If Democrats push their massive spending package through via budget reconciliation, the current state of inflation will look like “small potatoes,” says Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Have a prosperous day, Keep the Faith!
